A Thousand Kisses Deep (28 page)

Eva twisted her arms and tried to fight the rope that bound her. Knowing it was useless, she was too enraged to sit there any longer and do nothing. She felt the ropes cut into her wrists, and still she fought them.

When she heard the door open, she whirled her head, hoping it was Sly with an army of Onyxx agents. And she was right, it was him striding through the door. Only something was wrong with the picture.

He was being ushered into the room, along with Adolf Merrick, at gunpoint.

A needle was driven into the back of Sly's neck. He felt a stab of pain, then nothing. He woke up later to the sight of
Merrick
a few yards from him stretched out on a table, his legs and arms shackled. He was shirtless, his body covered in bruises, and blood dripping from the soles of his feet.

Sly wasn't sure of much at that point, but he knew
Merrick
wasn't dead. The Chameleon hadn't toyed with him for fourteen years to kill
Merrick
quickly.

He scanned the room and found Eva still seated in the center of the room. Her eyes were red from crying and they were fixed on him as if she'd been watching him for a long time. That made him wonder just how long he'd been out.

"Good, you're awake. See, Evka, he's not dead. Simon didn't overdose him. Mr. McEwen, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I always enjoy a good game, and I can see that you do, too. Not too many men would have accepted my invitation to a death party."

"Let me kill him, Father. Let me do it," Simon insisted.

Sly frowned.
Father?
The Chameleon was Simon's father? Had he heard right?

"As you can see, my son is eager. I had a certain agenda he was required to follow for the past four years where Evka was concerned. She was to remain untouched, and he obeyed the rules. Only now he feels you stole what he was ordered to protect. His anger is justified, but it is my outrage you should be worried about. Only I don't believe you're worried at all. What kind of man are you, McEwen? What kind of man has no regard for his own life?"

The Chameleon opened the file Simon handed to him. "I'll tell you what kind of man. You are an expert in diving rescue and marine navigation. You're listed as the Agency's leading wreck diver, with a top secret recovery in Molonkini Crater, a rescue in the Galapagos Islands, another in Nova Scotia, and a two-week stint diving in Antarctica. It also says here you own the record for holding your breath underwater longer than any man alive." The Chameleon looked up and smiled. "I believe you have an opportunity today to break your last record, McEwen. Shall we see how well you do?"

While Sly listened to the Chameleon, he was busy assessing his surroundings. He'd been stripped down the same as
Merrick
, leaving him in his water pants and nothing else. He was tied in an iron chair that jutted out from a long metal arm. Suddenly the floor below him began to move—open up—and he understood the meaning behind the Chameleon's words. The torture machine he'd been strapped into was an elaborate version of a dunking machine.

It was clear what game they would be playing, but Sly refused to think about what was coming up. Or, a better word would be, going
down.
Bjorn should be starting to make some noise damn soon if they were all going to get out alive. Where the hell was he?

"I haven't survived all these years to believe that you would have come here without some kind of backup, McEwen. If you're wondering where Odell is, and if he's going to be able to save your ass, the answer is no."

The Chameleon gestured to a guard, and the man flipped the switch on the wall across the room. The wall parted—much like the floor had—and there, stretched spread-eagle, was Bjorn manacled in iron. He looked like hell, tortured and bloody. But alive.

Of course. The Chameleon didn't believe in anyone dying too quickly.

Bjorn raised his head, and to Sly's surprise, managed to speak. "Reminds me of that time in Roatan, Sly. We were going to die, then, too. Remember?"

Sly felt the iron seat jerk as the arm swung him sideways and began to lower him into the water. He heard Eva cry out just as he was plunged into the depths. His arms and feet were strapped down, and he had no way of breaking free. He conserved his air, sure the Chameleon wouldn't drown him yet. He waited out the minutes, trying to decipher what Bjorn was trying to tell him by mentioning Roatan, the mission from hell. The vertical dive in the Caymans had him and Bjorn marked for death until they had escaped through a narrow cave that had led to the open sea.

Vertical dive … open sea…

Suddenly Sly knew what Bjorn meant. There must be a cave somewhere below the compound that led out to the sea. By the temperature of the water, he could tell that the dunking hole was fed by the sea, which meant that there was an escape route if he could get free of his ropes.

Sly came up gasping for air after a long five minutes. Eva was screaming now, begging the Chameleon not to kill him.

"See that the
Pearl
is ready to sail," the Chameleon said to one of the guards. "Simon, your job will be seeing to it that
Merrick
is transferred to the
Pearl
.
The bastard will not die before his time. We sail within the hour."

"What about Eva?"

"She'll be coming with us, I'll bring her with me. I wouldn't want her to miss Sly McEwen taking his final breath."

Sly heard the iron arm grind as he was swung over the water again. This time he was nearly unconscious by the time he was hoisted from the water. He sucked air, isolating the pain in his burning lungs. He could see that Bjorn was still shackled to the wall, and that Eva was still restrained on the chair, but
Merrick
had been taken away.

On the third dunk, Sly felt a strange presence around him. It would be just like a sadistic bastard like the Chameleon to toss in a reef shark or a stingray to add a little more sport to the game, he thought. He waited to see a pair of jaws open and start sampling his flesh, but instead of a hungry animal, he saw a light. And, as the high-powered beam came closer, Bjorn's words came back to him once more.

Reminds me of that time in Roatan, Sly. We were going to die then, too.

Yes, they would have died if Pierce Fortier hadn't shown up to rescue them from their watery grave. Suddenly, Pierce swam into vision and quickly offered Sly the extra clip regulator on his air tank while he cut the ropes at his ankles and wrists, then handed him a gun and a knife.

A few hand signals, and a wicked grin later, and Pierce motioned to the chair and they silently settled on a plan. The rat fighters had worked together for seven years, and as if they could read each other's thoughts, the air tanks and BC vests that Pierce had brought were stowed, then they each grabbed onto the iron arm as it began to lift.

They broke the water, guns raised. Sly shot three guards while Pierce knocked off four. As the guards were caught by surprise and fell one by one, the Chameleon took cover. Pierce pulled himself out of the water and raced to the wall to cut down Bjorn, while Sly sprinted to Eva. Dropping to his knees behind the chair, he cut through her ropes.

"There are men in cells in a passageway, Sly. We have to get them out," she told him.

"Later. Where's the Chameleon?"

"There," Eva pointed as he began cutting the ropes that bound her ankles.

Sly looked up just as the Chameleon made a mad dash for the water and dived headfirst into the black hole. He swore viciously, then yelled, "Get Eva out of here, Pierce, and take Bjorn with you. I'm going after the Chameleon."

Sly dived into the hole and swam hard for the wall where they had stowed their gear. When he reached the spot where they had hung the BC vests and tanks, he saw one set was gone and the others had been destroyed.

Without knowing how far the cave extended before dumping out to the sea, Sly had no way to assure himself that he could make it without an air tank. But tucking tail had never been his style, and so with the determination that had earned him the title as one of
Merrick
's elite, he swam fast and furious into the blackness.

When he saw the beam of a headlamp, or what could have been an underwater flare, he pushed himself faster, believing he might be able to catch the Chameleon before he reached open water. But before that could happen, the cave opened up and Sly saw a man on an aqua glider pick up the Chameleon, while two others turned toward him.

He pulled hard, kicked his legs, not wanting to get trapped underwater. He was nearly out of air when he surfaced. While resupplying his lungs, one of the gliders shot out of the water three feet away from him. He was near an outcropping of rocks, and he quickly climbed out of the water. When the glider came at him the man wasn't expecting Sly to lunge off the rock. He struck fast, drove his knife blade between the man's ribs, then knocked him off the glider to take control of the machine. He shot the second guard off the other glider, then sped toward the
Pearl
,
which was now on the move, sailing for the open sea.

Sly maxed out the glider, worried now that he might not be able to rescue
Merrick
. He was sure the Chameleon was already on board, that the
Pearl
had a secured underwater hatch that had allowed him to enter the yacht on the aqua glider from some pressurized chamber underwater.

It occurred to Sly at that moment that the Chameleon could indeed piss on the run. But then why not? The man was an ex-Onyxx agent.

Gunfire on board the
Pearl
had Sly raising his eyes to the upper deck. He had no idea how
Merrick
had managed to get himself free, but he was armed. Within a matter of seconds two guards went over the side, then his commander pitched himself overboard as well.

That he would abandon ship without the Chameleon told Sly that something was amiss. He turned the glider, searched the water for
Merrick
, and when he surfaced, Sly opened up the glider once more. One handed, he pulled his commander onto the machine behind him as he sped past.

Merrick
motioned for him to send the glider into the deep. Sly didn't question the request. He cut away from the
Pearl
and started down, just as an explosion sent the yacht out of the water and into an orange fireball. A geyser of water went up, then rained down as the water churned and the earth around the lagoon shook. The force of the C4 sent debris spraying the perimeter, littering the sea for a half a mile in all directions.

Sly blacked out and when he came to,
Merrick
was swimming toward a fishing boat, with an arm locked around him. It occurred to him at that moment that his injuries must be serious, since he couldn't move. Then that the men on board the boat
Merrick
was swimming to looked familiar—Onyxx agents.

He heard Bjorn's voice, then Pierce's. He had trusted his comrades countless times with his life, and in that moment he felt confident that Eva was safe on board, too.

It was only then that he gave in to his injuries and slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter 20

«
^

T
hree weeks later Sly strolled down the hall at Onyxx headquarters and, without knocking, stepped into
Merrick
's office.

"McEwen, I was told you were in the building,"
Merrick
said from behind his desk.

Sly studied his commander. It was the first he'd seen Merrick since they had both been airlifted to a hospital in
Athens
, where he'd spent five days and Merrick had spent less than twenty-four hours.

It was during those days that Bjorn had explained how he had called Pierce and Ash back in D.C. and asked them to fly to
Greece
. Stating his reasons, they had hopped a plane as quickly as they could. While Ash had stayed behind in Santorini to stand watch over Reznik until they had made arrangements to fly him back to the States, Pierce had been elected to follow Bjorn to
Paros
and play a game they called double-tag.

Bjorn had allowed himself to be captured by the Chameleon's men in order to fool them into thinking they had captured Sly's backup. Since they had seen only Bjorn at Cupata, Pierce had been able to wire the
Pearl
with explosives, then enter the monastery through the back door. At that point, Pierce had reminded Sly that with so many sea caves in the Greek Isles he had figured the Chameleon's back door would be an underwater tunnel of some kind.

Within hours of the explosion, the Agency had dispatched a mop-up crew to
Paros
to sweep the mission, and tie up loose ends. They had found a number of bodies, and on hearing the news, Sly had insisted that Bjorn and Pierce break him out of the hospital. Together, along with Ash Kelly, they had supervised the recovery of the bodies, and Sly had identified the Chameleon—or rather Paavo Creon—along with Simon Parish.

"You look good, McEwen,"
Merrick
said. "I was wondering how soon I'd see you. Does this mean you're ready to start back to work?"

"I resigned two months ago, remember?"

"Yes, I do. But I told you that I tore that paper up."

Sly shrugged, wincing a little. He was still sore from the shrapnel that had been dug out of his shoulder and back. "I just came by to tell you I'm taking some time off. An extended sabbatical. And to give you this."

He tossed a file on
Merrick
's desk.

"Is it all here? Everything?"

"Everything. Including pictures."

Merrick
opened the file, thumbed through the many pages. Glanced at the gruesome pictures of several bodies. He located the one identified as the Chameleon. "I see in your report you've confirmed the Agency's suspicions."

"That's right. The Chameleon is … was Paavo Creon."

Merrick
looked up from the file. "Do you believe that?"

"No." Sly handed over the neatly written letter Bjorn had given him in the hospital from Eva. "In that letter it says the Chameleon surgically copied the face of Onyxx agent Paavo Creon fourteen years ago after killing Creon and his wife in
Atlanta
." Sly paused, then said, "Eva's father … your friend didn't betray you, Merrick. Paavo never killed your wife."

"If what you say is true, and I'm inclined to believe you, then we still don't have a positive ID on the Chameleon's body, and it'll take weeks, maybe months, to positively ID the remains."

Sly hoped so.
Merrick
needed time to deal with his own health issues before he discovered the truth.

"We're still looking for the Chameleon's daughter, but there's no sign of Melita. We haven't been able to get much out of those eight prisoners that we found at the compound, either. But we're still working on both."
Merrick
peered into the box. "Bjorn mentioned some tapes. At least a dozen from a Dr. Fielding concerning Eva. Where are they?"

"Gone."

"Gone?"
Merrick
looked up. "Those tapes are evidence."

"I can't say for sure, but I think Simon Parish stole them off the
Hector
the night I was captured by him." Sly's lie was believable. He said, "Bjorn says Reznik is refusing to talk."

Merrick
grunted. "There's a rumor
that the Chameleon gave him a kill-list. That they made a deal of some kind. Know anything about that?"

"Some. It's in my report. Where is she?"

Merrick
was back flipping through the file. He looked up. "Eva's fine. You don't need to concern yourself about—"

"Where?"

"Signing the
Hector
over to her was a nice gesture. She told me to thank you. We did agree that when she was free, she should fly and things would get back to normal. I mentioned to her what you and I had talked about and she agreed that disappearing would be the best for everyone. I told her you'd be coming back to work, and… Well, you know as well as I that as agents we do a lot of things that we normally would never think of doing otherwise. Our lives here at Onyxx force us to role-play and use people. We—"

"Where is she?"

"Listen, McEwen, nothing can come of this. As your commanding officer, my advice to you is to— Hold on, where are you going?"

Sly's hand was on the doorknob. He looked over his sore shoulder. "I'm taking off."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow?"

"No. I told you I'm taking a sabbatical."

"Dammit, McEwen. For how long?"

"Can't say."

"What are you going to do?"

"A little fishing." Sly opened the door.

"But you gave away your boat."

"Yes, I did."

"Don't you want to know where she is?"

Sly turned to face his commander. "I know where she is,
Merrick
."

"You do? Then why did you ask me?"

"To see if anything had changed."

"Changed?"

"You're an asshole,
Merrick
. You still have an ice chunk where your heart should be." Sly started out the door again. "Oh—" he spun around "—get that operation. You're going to need to be in shape in a few months."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Trust me, get yourself fixed up and in shape."

"In shape? Who saved whose ass in
Greece
?"

The door was pushed open and in walked Bjorn. "I believe I saved both of your asses." He sauntered past Sly and took the chair in front of
Merrick
's desk. "You wanted to see me, Merrick?"

"That's right."

"You're really taking off, Sly?" Bjorn asked.

"I'm really taking off."

"When can I expect you back to work?"
Merrick
asked.

"When there's something worth coming back for." Sly stepped through the door.

"How can I reach you?"
Merrick
yelled.

"You can't." Sly started down the hall. "When I want to be found you'll be the first to know."

Eva angled her head and let the warm sea breeze touch her cheeks and lift her hair. She had sailed the
Hector
to the private cove weeks ago expecting Sly to follow her within a week.

She'd seen him briefly just before he'd been wheeled into surgery. She hadn't been able to speak to him, not even to thank him for … everything.

She'd been interrogated for five days before she'd been allowed to disappear. That's the word
Merrick
had used when he'd come to talk to her that last day. When he'd described her relationship with Sly as an encounter during a dangerous mission.

He'd said, "I know you and Sly became close … friends, Eva, and that's why … Sly signed over the
Hector
to you. Here's the deed. It's yours. A gift. A way of saying thanks."

A way of saying thanks.

She hadn't wanted to believe Sly could be so cold about what they'd shared, but after the week had turned into ten days, she had started to have doubts. Now, twenty-one days later, she could no longer keep pretending that he'd just been delayed.

The truth was, he wasn't coming.
Merrick
, as gently as he could, had been telling the truth. She and Sly had had an encounter during a dangerous mission, and the
Hector
was her consolation prize.

She felt like a fool for thinking that he had cared about her over and above job level. That he would want to spend some time away from the
job
with her.

When
Merrick
had handed her the deed to the
Hector,
she had thought that Sly was sending her a silent message. A message to meet him here where they had fallen in love. Correction. Where she had fallen in love.

He wasn't coming.

Eva felt the lump in her throat swell as tears stung her eyes. She wanted to cry, but that would really make her look like a fool.

It was actually generous of him to give her the yacht considering she had no money or home. Nothing now but her freedom.

She should be thrilled. She'd always wanted to be free to go anywhere her heart wished. To sail away with the wind and never look back. It was all possible now. No more rules, no more games.

She could disappear and she would.

She would leave tomorrow and go … where?

East, west, north or south.

One thing for certain was her food supply was running low and she would need money to restock the galley. That meant she would have to find a job. She wasn't qualified to do anything. Anything but
survive
, and at the moment she had no idea who would hire her with that one word written in the skills column on a job résumé.

It was late afternoon when she heard the motor, then saw the fisherman in the distance. He waved and she waved back. Her heart had sped up for a moment, had allowed her to hope for a brief few seconds.

She went below, and had a good cry. Feeling better, she went back up on deck ready to enjoy another beautiful sunset alone. Curling up on the cushion along the stern, she drew up her legs and stared out over the blue water.

She couldn't blame Sly for not coming. Tomorrow she would leave this beautiful place and never return.

"It's over," she whispered. "It's finally over."

"Is it?"

She whirled her head around to see Sly standing in the doorway of the wheelhouse. He was soaking wet, as if he'd come straight out of the sea. He looked … tall, and too good for words.

"The fisherman…" she said, absently pointing in the direction she'd seen the boat.

"Nice guy. Says you've been out here awhile. A few weeks."

"Soaking up a little sun," she said. "You know me. I love the sun. I found your underwater cameras and went exploring. So what brings you out here? Did you finally wrap everything up?"

"The Agency is still looking for Melita."

"I wanted to help, but
Merrick
told me that you … they preferred I just disappear. Did you find his body?"